Whalen' s Pond??

It is no secret that I do a great deal of fishing.  I love being on the water and I have since I was a young kid.  That love of water feeds me when the fishing is slow and tonight while the temps hovered around 3*C it was slow and cold.

Despite the unseasonably cold temps I spent 3 hours tonight wading along the shore of one of my favorite creeks.   I watched for patterns in the currents and noted the depths and color changes as the water flowed over deep gravel and bedrock substrates.

Every now and then you find an oasis and it speaks to you from a spiritual place.  I found such a place during this cold outing.  Tall ferns, big trees, wildlife, and spiritual presence was inspiring.  I sat with no line in the water for more than 25 minutes and simply watched, listened, and smelled the awesome wilderness around me.  The spring peepers sang a harmony with the Canadian geese.  The wind blew gently through the poplar and ash which provided a calming white noise to the scene.  The mud from the nearby pond and the waving ferns provided a familiar and oddly comforting  aroma.

The family of beavers swimming in the pond provided excitement and company.  I talked to them and it appeared they quickly realized I was not a threat.  This idea put a smile on my face and I felt at harmony with nature.  It was a rewarding moment that I will cherish until the next time I find that natural space.

Re-envisioning the Goals of My Wandering

Over the past little while I have had to take a step back and reconsider how I approach my writing and my outdoor activities.  I love to wander those ridges and valleys and I love to share my experiences with others.  I have found however that as I share my stories and my locations those natural spaces become targets.  This puts me in conflict.  In a relatively short period that natural space goes from being a wilderness area to being a quickly degrading ecosystem and I'm left feeling guilty and used.

A rainy day hike into Foster Brook proved that my kids can push their limits.

With that being said, my goal, when I started my blog, is to encourage folks of all abilities to get out doors and explore and wander the natural areas around them.  My goal was not to promote destinations but rather exploration.  In the past I have shared maps and directions to some of my hiking and adventure locations and moving forward that will no longer be the case.  I will still include photos and I will still strive to transport your mind to that peaceful, rugged, remote, wilderness area that I love to wander.  I want people to explore and find "their space", their wilderness, and (sorry for the selfish approach) leave mine be.

I realize that some of my readers will be a bit put out by this and to you I apologize.  I hope that you will continue to visit my blog from time to time and I will strive to venture into other entertaining aspects beyond giving you the locations.  I am going to now strive to educate on better use of our wilderness areas, flood plains, and fisheries through my posts.  I'll strive to provide links to other cool angling resources, hiking tech gadgets, and such.  I will continue to write about family oriented adventures and these I may share more details on as they are not so "wilderness" oriented. 

My blog has been quiet and I will endeavor to reinvigorate it over the next little bit as I have missed this creative outlet.  I have been sharing old posts on some social outlets but it has been a number of months since I have posted any new material.  Check back soon as I have some adventures to write about coming up.